Notes Twain's Artistry

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Huck Finn: Mark Twain's Artistry

(Logan)

In Class Notes

I. Mark Twain as a craftsman
  1. Turned oral humor into written satire
    • Satire- holding up human vices and follies to riducule or
    • scorn in hopes of changing the world
  2. Colloquial Speech (local dialect/vernacular)
  3. Romantic at heart- descriptions of Nature

II. Mythic Images of the Mississippi River
  1. MS River is the enduring symbol of the US heartland
    • Gateway to the West- represents population migration
    • Cuts through heartland- life giving
  2. Steamboats to rafts
    • Water travel touches nomadic yearning
    • "Go with the flow"- ingrained belief in "fate"
  3. Youthful Innocence
    • Desire to run away and be free of problems
    • River provides "Perfect Freedom"
  4. Vanishing way of life
    • Comforts us with "who we are" as a nation
    • Proof that we are moving forward/progress


Additional Notes by Students

  • Bet Harte once said that "Mark Twain simply could not write a dull sentence"
  • Many writers idolize Twain (Shelby K.)
  • Spoke the voice of the American People (((Parker)))